As part of Baker McKenzie’s BakerWomen Middle East* programme of events, we are pleased to invite our female in-house legal and business executives to the first in a series of roundtable discussions in Dubai focusing on the latest developments impacting investments and operations in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA).
On 2 July 2019 the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Cabinet announced the relaxation of foreign ownership restrictions for 122 business activities specifically in the manufacturing, agricultural and services categories. This follows the issuance of the new Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Law in September 2018 to open up the UAE mainland market to foreign investors.
What has changed?
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government intends to further relax foreign ownership restrictions, allowing international investors to own 100% of companies operating in the UAE mainland and granting long-term residency permits for foreign investors for the first time.